Samyang Lenses

Est. 1972 · Changwon and Gwacheon, South Korea · 3 lenses

Samyang's optical business was incorporated in 1972 as Korea WAKO Co., Ltd. and became Samyang Optical Co., Ltd. in 1979. The company built its early reputation as a supplier of manual-focus lenses, CCTV optics, and private-label lenses sold under regional names including Rokinon, Bower, Pro-Optic, Vivitar, Opteka, and others. The company name changed to Samyang Optics in 2002, and the current corporate name LK Samyang was adopted in 2024.

For photographers outside Korea, Samyang became especially visible in the late DSLR era with inexpensive but optically ambitious manual-focus primes: the 8 mm fisheye, 14 mm f/2.8 ultra-wide, 24 mm f/1.4, 35 mm f/1.4, 85 mm f/1.4, 100 mm macro, 135 mm f/2, and 24 mm tilt-shift. These lenses often traded autofocus and electronic integration for strong optical performance at low prices, making them popular with landscape, astro, video, and adapted-lens users.

Samyang expanded into cinema lenses with VDSLR and XEEN lines, then into native autofocus mirrorless lenses beginning with Sony E-mount full-frame designs in the mid-2010s. The company joined the L-Mount Alliance in 2023 and now ships autofocus lenses across Sony E, Nikon Z, Fujifilm X, Canon RF/RF-S, and L-mount families, while still maintaining manual-focus and cine product lines.

Notable designs: 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC, 85mm f/1.4, 135mm f/2 ED UMC, 24mm f/3.5 Tilt-Shift, XP 14mm f/2.4, AF 35mm f/2.8 FE, AF 35-150mm f/2-2.8, XEEN cinema primes